- tra himself; but this—except where the prophet is in some way
named as the author—must be considered only as an individual opinion, which can carry no positive conviction to other minds until it is supported by stronger evidence than any at present accessible. Meantime, we may rest assured that we possess among these hymns some undoubted productions of the Zarathustrian age.
Subdivision 1.—The Five Gâthâs.
Proceeding to the individual Gâthâs, we find that the first, which begins with the 28th chapter of the Yaçna, bears the following heading: "The revealed Thought, the revealed Word, the revealed Deed of the truthrul Zarathustra.—The immortal saints chanted the hymns."[1]
The Gâthâ Ahunavaiti—such is its title—then proceeds:—
1. "Adoration to you, ye truthful hymns!
2. "I raise aloft my hands in devotion, and worship first all true works of the wise and holy Spirit, and the Understanding of the pious Disposition, in order to participate in this happiness.
3. "I will draw near to you with a pious disposition, O Wise One! O Living One! with the request that you will grant me the mundane and the spiritual life. By truth are these possessions to be obtained, which he who is self-illuminated bestows on those who strive for them" (F. G., vol. i. p. 24.—Yaçna, xxviii. 1-3).
The most important portion of this Gâthâ is the 30th chapter,
because in it we have a vivid picture of the conflict in
which the religion of Ahura-Mazda was born. Philological
inquiry has rendered it clear beyond dispute, that Parseeism
took its rise in a religious schism between two sections of the
great Aryan race, at a period so remote that the occupation of
Hindoostan by an offshoot of that race had not yet occurred.
The common ancestors of Hindus and Persians still dwelt
together in Central Asia, when the great Parsee Reformation
- ↑ Throughout the Gathas I follow Haug; and I need make no apology for neglecting Spiegel's translation, because that scholar himself admits, with creditable candor, that even his indefatigable perseverance was baffled by the difficulties of this portion of the Yacna.—Av., 2. xi.
